IAMA an investigative reporter for Al Jazeera America which aired the details of a FBI sting operation uncovering corruption in California politics - AMA me about the story!

Here is my bio:
Trevor Aaronson is an investigative reporter with Al Jazeera Media
Network and author of The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI’s
Manufactured War on Terrorism (Ig Publishing, January 2013). Aaronson
has won more than two dozen national and regional awards, including
the Molly Prize, the international Data Journalism Award and the John
Jay College/H.F. Guggenheim Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting
Award.

Info on the Story

The target of the undercover operation was California state senator Ron Calderon, whose family has been heavily involved in state politics for 30 years.

For an in-depth look at the details of the FBI sting and background info read my article and watch the video of the sting itself.

Hi, everyone. Thanks for joining me in this Reddit AMA. I'm happy to discuss the reporting behind the story Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit ran last night about state Sen. Ronald Calderon, who is the subject of an FBI sting operation in which undercover agents posed as independent movie executives.

This story is huge ... something this big means a lot of people knew about it and were in on it. How many other politicians, leaders, ppl involved? What real movie studios are involved? Who tipped off FBI ... why? I'm sure many are running scared & trying to distance themselves ... are you getting threats from anyone?

The Calderon investigation is certainly the story of the day in California. There hasn't been a sting case like this in Sacramento since "Shrimpscam" -- an FBI undercover operation that resulted in the conviction of four elected officials and 10 staff members. In our story on the Calderon investigation, we interviewed James Wedick, a former FBI agent who supervised the Shrimpscam case. And, no, we have not received any threats.

Hey, Ryan. I'm a fan of your work. Thanks for joining me here. Cases like these can be delayed for a variety reasons. Sometimes, the FBI is investigating other people based on information obtained through searches, such as the one that occurred at Calderon's office. Other times, there are disputes between the FBI and prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office. Or it's possible that the grand jury process is just taking a long time. We did ask the FBI to comment before our story, and specifically asked if the Calderon case had been referred for prosecution. The FBI in Washington and Los Angeles declined to comment.

Hi Trevor - in the course of your investigation, did you see suspicious behavior in other officials? Are you planning to expand your investigation? I find it hard to believe this all went unnoticed by Calderon's colleagues.

In any investigation, the FBI is looking to bring in as many targets as possible. Sometimes, sting operations result in only one person being indicted. But in other cases, particularly in public corruption probes, it's not uncommon for multiple people to be indicted. A corruption probe in Nashville and Memphis, called Operation Tennessee Waltz, led to the conviction of a dozen state officials. My colleague Katie Lannigan wrote a story about the history of public corruption stings similar to what's going on in California: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/10/30/fbi-undercover-stingscatchingpoliticiansredhanded.html

My understanding is that agreements with cable companies in the United States prevent Al Jazeera from streaming Al Jazeera English (or, for that matter, Al Jazeera America) in the United States. The live streaming service for Al Jazeera English is still available outside of the United States.

Of course. It's not unusual for journalists to be put in situations they feel unsafe, in the United States and abroad. I've reported in Asia, Africa and South America, and during some of those trips, I was given reasons to be nervous. But, knock on wood, nothing horrible has ever happened.

In California, a state senator has tremendous influence over policy. It's also important to note that California is unique, given the size of its economy. On its own, California has the eighth-largest economy in the world. That's why we believed a public corruption case of a California state senator was so significant and had national resonance.

Well, to be frank, I don't agree with the premise of your question that Al Jazeera is anti-Semitic. I think Al Jazeera has an admirable track record of covering stories around the world, with a particular emphasis in telling the stories of people left behind, displaced or otherwise disadvantaged.